I Became The Only Healer In The Academy [EN]: Chapter 14

14

After exiting the building, Seonghyun seated the man on a nearby chair and sat down beside him.

“You’ve made it past the biggest hurdle.”

Sitting on the chair, all tension released, fatigue washed over him once again.

“I wonder why I get so mentally drained every day…”

Of course, the physical pain was a bonus.

“Ugh…”

As Seonghyun lamented his fate, he turned his head at a small groan from beside him.

“Are you coming to your senses?”

“Where…am I…”

“As you can see, it’s a park near the building.”

“I… I was definitely…”

The man recalled what had happened.

The desperate situation where a mana beast of enormous size, unlike what he had heard, appeared before him.

The man ran his hands over his face.

No, he tried to.

“Ah…?”

But the sensation on his face covered only the area of one hand.

Realizing that one of his arms was missing, the situations he had momentarily forgotten began to resurface.

Being attacked by that enormous mana beast, sacrificing one arm, and dealing with it using his only ability.

In that urgent situation, with tremendous pain surging, he desperately grabbed the core and tried to return, only to lose consciousness and collapse.

And the last thing he saw was Seonghyun, now sitting next to him.

As the whole situation gradually became clear and accepted as reality, only one thing remained incomprehensible.

‘Why don’t I feel any pain in my arm?’

That was the most puzzling fact.

His arm was completely torn off, but he felt no corresponding pain; in fact, his body felt as if he had just woken up.

“The bleeding has stopped, and your life isn’t in danger.”

“Yes, yes?”

The man didn’t understand what Seonghyun was saying for a moment.

His words made it sound as if he had been healed.

“A-Are you perhaps a doctor?”

“…Well, something like that.”

Then, a memory flashed through his mind.

The news he had seen about a hunter with healing abilities appearing.

At the time, he hadn’t paid much attention because his ability hadn’t even manifested yet, but considering the situation, if the man sitting next to him wasn’t that person, none of what had happened could be explained.

The sure proof was that his arm, visible in his sight, was healing.

“Y-You’re…”

“Please pretend you didn’t see me.”

Although he couldn’t see his entire face because he was wearing a mask, from the man’s perspective, there was no way he wouldn’t recognize his savior just because he was wearing a mask.

“N-No, but still, how could I…”

“You would have survived even if it wasn’t me. Someone else was coming from behind.”

“…”

If the mana beasts had reached the man, they would have encountered the hunter coming from behind.

With perfect timing.

“Then, at least your name…”

“…Kim Seonghyun.”

“Kim…Seonghyun… I’m Park Hanwook. I won’t reveal today’s events as long as you’re keeping them a secret.”

“More importantly, can you get home?”

At Seonghyun’s words, Hanwook looked at the now empty space where his arm used to be, gave a bitter smile, and said.

“It doesn’t hinder walking, does it.”

“That was… the best I could do.”

At Seonghyun’s words, Hanwook was momentarily speechless.

His voice was filled with guilt, as if he was responsible for what had happened.

“Then, I’ll go back inside. Get home safely.”

“Thank you… again.”

Hanwook bowed 90 degrees to Seonghyun as he got up.

“It’s really okay. I did it because… I had my own reasons.”

“Whatever those reasons are, the fact that you saved me remains unchanged.”

“Haha, you’re firm. Then, goodbye…”

Seonghyun bowed his head slightly towards Hanwook, who was still bowing, and turned away.

“Kim Seonghyun…”

Hanwook stared endlessly at Seonghyun’s departing figure.

“W-Wait a moment…”

There was one thing he had forgotten.

The news didn’t just report Seonghyun’s ability.

It also reported its side effects.

“H-How…”

Hanwook checked his severed right arm again.

New flesh was growing, completely covering the surface.

“This… can’t be…”

He couldn’t believe it.

The side effect of Seonghyun’s ability, as confirmed in the news, was clearly feeling the pain instead.

‘I don’t just owe him my life.’

He saved his life and, at the same time, took away the pain that he might have suffered for the rest of his life.

‘Is this a choice that an ordinary person can make?’

Simply saving someone is, frankly, something anyone can do if they put their mind to it.

Of course, it requires a corresponding ability.

But feeling the pain instead?

Especially if you already have an idea of how great that pain will be?

How many people would think of using their ability even with these conditions attached?

And even if they did think so, how many people would actually act on it?

“…Thank you.”

Hanwook bowed again towards where Seonghyun had gone. Just now, he had thanked Seonghyun for saving his life, but now, it was out of respect for the courage and self-sacrifice to take on someone else’s pain.

“I won’t waste the life you saved.”

What does it matter to lose one arm?

If one is missing, he could wield a sword with the other, and if both arms are missing, he could just live in another way.

Seonghyun, after parting with Hanwook, was lost in thought on his way home.

‘Park Hanwook, Park Hanwook…’

He kept thinking, as the name sounded familiar, but unfortunately, he couldn’t remember.

“More importantly, this proficiency… is there no way to check it separately?”

It was clear that it was deeply related to the growth of his healing ability, but since he couldn’t see the extent of it, he felt as if he was blocked by an invisible wall.

“So unkind…”

If there was an unknown being who showed him this window, they were probably hoping for Seonghyun’s growth, but they didn’t seem to have any intention of making it easy for him to grow.

“It’s as if they want me to suffer…”

The fact that they created the ability called Sacrifice seemed to be somewhat related to this.

Otherwise, there was no way it could be so related to pain.

[Opening]

“Opening?”

It was the most welcome and the most frightening sound.

The word Opening had appeared when he discovered his healing ability, and the same word came out when an ability with a huge penalty called Sacrifice was opened.

[Faith]

“Faith…?”

No matter how he looked at it, it was a word with a strong religious feel, and Seonghyun, who was not religious, couldn’t understand why words that seemed to be related to religion kept appearing.

‘Could it be that the unknown being showing me this window is something like a god?’

Many questions followed, but the window showed the next word as if it had no interest in Seonghyun’s thoughts.

[Faith: You are a god to someone.]

[When using abilities on someone who supports you, the basic effect of Sacrifice is not applied.]

[The effect of Sacrifice is applied an additional 10%.]

[You can track the location of the target when they are in pain.]

[However, you must receive blind faith and trust.]

“Oh…”

For the first time, an ability that could unconditionally benefit him had appeared.

Moreover, there was more than one benefit to be gained.

“A god to someone… probably that Mr. Park Hanwook.”

Looking at the timing of when the window appeared, there was no one else who fit this description other than Hanwook.

“So, if I use my abilities on someone named Park Hanwook in the future, I won’t feel pain, and my physical abilities will only be enhanced by Sacrifice?”

Could there be a better ability than this?

He would be grateful even if it simply increased the range of physical ability enhancement, but he wouldn’t even feel the pain.

And above all, the fact that he could track the target’s location was amazing.

“Can’t I apply it to my family…”

He couldn’t tell them to worship him as a god, so it was a little disappointing, but he was still very satisfied with this much.

Thinking about it, all the abilities were connected to each other.

None of the abilities were unrelated to each other.

“It’ll be easier to do daily quests from now on.”

It was just a guess, but Park Hanwook had probably started working as a hunter for his family.

If so, he would continue to appear at the gate, and since he was still inexperienced, he would inevitably get hurt.

“Have I put out the immediate fire for now…”

All the situations were over, and Seonghyun had finished organizing the results of those situations, so he leaned back on the bench as if he was stretching out and let out a big sigh.

‘This damn window…’

It was clear that it was trying to take the initiative in any way possible.

It was so annoying.

“Hoo, let’s go rest.”

Still, he had achieved a great harvest today, so Seonghyun headed home with a slightly lighter heart.

“What about today’s quest…”

[Time remaining for the Sage’s Daily Quest: 10 hours]

Seonghyun didn’t want to have the initiative taken away by this window any more than this.

‘There are too many restrictions.’

Of course, considering the abilities he had gained, these restrictions were not really restrictions at all.

Because there was only one similar ability in South Korea, no, in the whole world.

But that rarity and initiative were separate matters.

“What should I do about this annoying daily quest first.”

To heal someone, there inevitably had to be an injury, and injured people were often found in hospitals or places where they were injured.

“…Okay. Let’s do it like today.”

Since he only had to do it once a day anyway, Seonghyun decided not to pay much attention to it.

As soon as Seonghyun finished thinking, the homeroom teacher, still a little intimidated, came in with heavy steps.

“Okay, everyone knows that there’s an ability evaluation next week, right? And the week after that, we’ll be electing class representatives for the academy.”

‘Class representative… ah, that’s when it is.’

Class representatives were selected based on exam scores each semester, and the class representatives thus formed would compete against other class representatives from the 1st grade.

Each grade went through the same process, and the representatives of each grade who gathered in this way had to compete again.

‘And after that…’

There was the National Competition, which could be said to be a festival of each academy held every year at the end of the year.

“Since it’s difficult for 1st graders to participate in the National Competition anyway, think of it as gaining experience.”

Although the academy was composed only of adults, the difference between 20 and 21 years old was unimaginably large.

The difference between 10 years of experience and 11 years of experience is not that great, but the same was true of the considerable difference between a newcomer and 1 year of experience.

Those who had just opened their abilities were 1st graders in the academy, and 2nd graders were those who had accumulated countless experiences such as subjugation and sparring while going through the 1st grade.

“Still, if you are selected as a 1st grade representative, you can request production from the academy’s equipment workshop.”

The classroom began to buzz at the words ‘academy equipment workshop’.

Basically, equipment was very difficult to manufacture.

Cores were also used as materials, and the number of hunters with manufacturing-related abilities was not very large.

“You can check the exam contents for next week in the front.”

The homeroom teacher finished speaking, dragged his shoes, and left the classroom.

“…Will the results of this exam be a little different?”

According to his memories before the regression, Seonghyun was too far away from such exams.

He had received scores close to failing on every exam he took.

“I’ve gained new abilities, but let’s not be careless.”

He didn’t even want to be a 1st grade representative, and he thought he would be less hurt in his pride if he was at least a class representative.